Elkros
Elkros is a private research and development corporation dating back before the war that then had, and still maintains, extensive connections with the United States Government. A once direct competitor to Caerus Laboratories, Elkros developed and still continues a range of products, including firearms, advanced computers, security systems, alternative energy sources, and more. In the present, their logo has been seen stamped into the intricate electrical components of newly manufactured products traded by the Bridge Runners and used throughout prominent settlements across the North American Continent. They also made a more direct appearance when aiding the USR in battle against the Terra Concord. History Before the Great Rift War, Elkros was a largely successful Research and Development company that saw great success and immense wealth in a suspiciously short amount time. They were rumored to have a sort of nationalistic hiring policy, and close ties to the US Federal Government; especially the military. However, before the war, this was all largely unconfirmed. Elkros by and large remained toward the West Coast of the United States, with only minor attempts to put facilities eastward, until the Great Rift War took place and these few small eastern facilities were destroyed or abandoned. To the public prior to the war, Elkros’s demonstrations of sci-fi looking weapons and robotics fascinated people of all ages in the few facilities they opened to be publicly toured. By and large, however, Elkros was a company that few people really knew much about at the time. Elkros’s wealth, influence, ties to the Government, and secretivism of it’s best facilities essentially allowed Elkros to be the sole major company to survive the Great Rift War entirely in-tact; at least in Western America, or perhaps America in its entirety. After Operation Dethrone, when the IDn was removed from their own protection centers and the world appeared to be liberated, Elkros found themselves with a considerable amount of resources, power, and opportunities, standing alongside top surviving US Government officials with the intent to rebuild what had been lost. With all of Elkros’s former competition being quite literally bombed out of existence; the goals, attitudes, and the face of Elkros itself would change dramatically as the company took a larger and much different role in the reborn way of American life. In the first days of the USR, Elkros dropped it’s previous secrecy as far as being close to the former US Government, and instead now openly embraced a front and center partnership with the new USR Governing body. Whether genuine or simply seizing the opportunity for good PR, wherever the USR was seen rebuilding, Elkros and its assets were also there to lend a hand. Elkros technicians in jumpsuits or lab coats, small armies of repair vehicles, and fleets of different service drones were a constant presence in the early days of the USR. Along with federal soldiers and emergency services, Elkros personnel were seen fixing power lines, bringing life back to defunct nuclear power plants, clearing debris from the war, and joining forces with the USGF to help locate and clear out whatever threats remained in Washington and California, such as pockets of Riftients or less than friendly former DCA personnel. The first year of the USR cemented Elkros as the scientific and technological arm of the American people, as well as a (at least initially) benevolent and charitable company with the same interest as everyone else to restore the American Dream. Without any commercial competition, Elkros would go on to seize and restore many markets that were destroyed and thus unclaimed at the time of the USR’s rebuilding. After the successful creation of the Elkros power cell, which made nuclear energy much safer and more stable, Elkros would enter many different kinds of products, such as civilian vehicles. Laying claim to the power grid and the now more advanced nuclear facilities that kept it going, Elkros found their fingers in many pies, influencing almost all financial sectors to some degree. To give the impression that Elkros wasn’t slowly swallowing the entire USR and every store and business within it, Elkros “purchased” the logos and titles of older companies who had been lost in the war, and revived them, such as Shell Gasoline, though of course rebranded to fit modern changes. In the present, the name Elkros carries with it a certain level of wonder and respect in the eyes of most Americans under the USR. For a son to declare to his father, “I’m going to grow up and work for Elkros” carries a similar sort of weight as if he said he’s off to work for NASA or the National Guard. Elkros continues to further cement its proud and close ties to the Federal Government, often showcased in posters and advertisements that can be found in the city. One such poster showed Uncle Sam in the driver's seat of a large, two legged Elkros branded mech, fit with rockets and mini-guns, flanked by a group of charging USGF soldiers, blasting away at shadowy looking monsters meant to represent America’s enemies. Underneath this picture were the words “Apply or Enlist today!” Technology WES_2 Bunker Initially assumed to have been wiped out during the war and occupation like many companies and their employees, remnants of Elkros were discovered by the New Union in the form of a well preserved surface bunker outside the then settlement of Debalk, Indiana. Inside the bunker was a prototype virtual intelligence, schematics for the "Magdul PDR" firearm, and several computers full of encrypted or corrupted research data. It was also discovered the bunker itself ran on a nuclear power core underneath the ground. Several clues found by the NU expansion team suggested that members of Elkros survived at least the initial attack of the 7 hour war.